‘Good Kill’--Tapes Depict Aerial Battle

“Good kill. Good kill. Good kill. Pilot ejected.”

With those words, two Navy F-14 pilots ended a tense, eight-minute encounter that sent two Libyan MIG-23 fighters into the Mediterranean.

The Pentagon on Thursday released cockpit tapes of the downing of the Libyan jets that reveal in gripping detail the two American pilots’ efforts to evade the MIGs and their frustration at balky gear and missiles that went astray.

“Shoot him,” one American flier says to the other as a Libyan jet flashes in front of him less than two miles away--seconds after they had shot down the first MIG.

“I don’t got a tone,” the other responds, referring to a growl emitted by a Sidewinder missile when it has locked onto a target.

“Lock him up. Lock him up.”

“Shoot him. Fox 2,” says another voice. Fox 2 refers to a Sidewinder heat-seeking missile.

“I can’t. I don’t have a (expletive deleted) tone.”

The pilot finally gets his missile aimed and blasts his target. The fight is over and the planes turn north, back to the safety of the carrier deck.

The cockpit tape offers only brief and barely decipherable video pictures, although it concludes with a stunning blur of images of the second Libyan plane dodging and weaving, trying to evade the pursuing F-14 at close range. One can see the MIG flashing across the F-14’s nose as the U.S. pilot tries to get a bead on its tail.

The destruction of the MIG is clear in the final moments of the videotape, shown in a puff of black smoke.

The 7 1/2-minute audio portion of the tape, while confusing in the final hectic moments of the aerial combat, reveals that the U.S. pilots were nervous about the Libyan jets nearly from the moment the MIG-23 “Floggers” left the Libyan coast, at 11:55 a.m. Wednesday local time (1:55 a.m. PST).

The U.S. pilots describe several evasive actions early in the encounter. Each time, the Libyans turn and pursue. After the second attempt to maneuver away from the MIG-23s, the F-14s go to “warning yellow, weapons hold,” an early stage in the process of readying missiles for firing.

Again, the Americans turn away from the MIGs.

“Bogies have jinked back into me now, for the third time, noses on, at 35 miles, angels 7,” the lead pilot reports, according to a transcript of the tape prepared by the Associated Press.

Angels 7 means the plane’s altitude is 7,000 feet.

F-14s Try to Break Off

As the MIGs approach to within 27 miles, the F-14s try again and again to break off, but every move is mirrored by the Libyans.

Then after a fifth evasive maneuver: “Bogies have jinked back at me again for the fifth time. They’re on my nose now, inside of 20 miles.”

The lead pilot has had enough.

“Master arm on,” he says, flipping a cockpit switch arming his missiles. “Master arm on. Centering up the T. Bogies have jinked back into me again. Sixteen miles. Centering the dot.”

The phrases “centering up the T” and “centering the dot” refer to jockeying the plane into missile launch position.

When ready, the pilot calls “Fox 1” as he fires a Sparrow radar-guided missile and “Fox 2” when he fires a heat-seeking, short-range Sidewinder.

“Fourteen miles. Fox 1. Fox 1.”

“Aw, Jesus,” says the weapons officer seated in the back seat as that missile missed.

“Ten miles. He’s back on my nose. Fox 1 again,” the pilot calls out.

“Six miles. Six miles.”

Weapons Officer

Then another voice, again apparently the weapons officer: “Tally two, tally two,” meaning he’s seen the two Libyans.

The pilot: “Five miles. Four miles.”

The second F-14 flying as wingman then fires a Sparrow and the weapons officer in the lead F-14 reports to his pilot, “Okay, he’s got a missile off.”

At this point, it becomes almost impossible to tell who is talking. The tape continues:

“Good hit. Good hit on 1.”

“Roger that. Good kill. Good kill.”

“I’ve got the other one.”

“Select Fox 2. Select Fox 2.”

“All right, Fox 2.”

“Those (expletive deleted) . . . “

“Shoot him.”

“I don’t got a tone.”

“Lock him up. Lock him up.”

“Shoot him. Fox 2.”

“I can’t. I don’t have a (expletive deleted) tone.”

Growling Missile

At this point, the lead F-14 finally lines up behind the jinking MIG and hears his missile growl. He lets it fly.

“Good kill. Good kill.”

“Good kill.”

“Pilot ejected.”

“Okay . . . let’s head north. Head north.”

“Let’s go down low, on the deck. Unload, 500 knots. Let’s get out of here.”

“We’re showing two good chutes in the air here.”

Then in a report back to the carrier: “Roger. Two Floggers. Two Floggers splashed. We’re heading north.”

F-14s vs. MIGs: AN 8-MINUTE CHRONOLOGY 1.11:55 a.m. Wednesday--U.S. radar plane detects two Libyan MIG-23s taking off from Al Bumbah Air Base and approaching two U.S. F-14s from the carrier Kennedy.

11:57--F-14s aim weapons radar at Libyan jets, which keep closing at high speed.

11:58--U.S. jets, in a series of five evasive maneuvers, dive from 20,000 feet to 3,000 and change course sharply. MIGs follow and accelerate.

12:01:20--Lead F-14 fires radar-guided Sparrow missile at one MIG 14 miles away. Twelve seconds later, it launches second Sparrow, at range of 12 miles. Both miss. 2.12:01:45--The two U.S. planes split off in opposite directions. Both MIGs pursue second -14, the “wingman.” 3.12:01:57--Wingman fires Sparrow missile at second MIG at range of six miles, reports hit. First MIG turns away. 4.12:02:36--Lead F-14, having circled around first MIG, fires Sidewinder heat-seeking missile into fleeing Libyan jet at range of 1 1/2 miles. Pilot sees plane go down and parachutes appear from both.

12:03:02--F-14s turn northward toward carrier.